SECRET Member Jieun Is Officially Leaving The Group
SECRET member Jieun has officially announced her departure from the group. She made an official statement on her Instagram in regards to her departure.
“Hello, it’s Song Jieun. First of all, I need to say I’m sorry for leaving SECRET and I’m sorry to you all for having to hear this news through articles. It took a lot of courage for me to write this. I only wanted to tell you good things, but I can’t. Please understand that since I have no other way to communicate this at the moment, I was forced to post it on Instagram.
I started my career in 2009 with TS Entertainment. I will be forever grateful to the them for starting my career, letting me be a part of SECRET, and allowing us to meet our wonderful fans. Thank you again. With that in mind, I’m still concerned about how to convey the current situation accurately.
Many of you may have already heard this, but it’s true that I submitted an application to the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board against TS Entertainment in August 2017. The Board came to the decision that my exclusive contract no longer exists. And I want to make it very clear that there is not a civil lawsuit going on.
I’m very sorry to our fans and know that you have been waiting a long time. But I still want to give a part of myself to other people. I will be leaving SECRET and starting anew under the name Song Jieun. These recent events have allowed me to mature and your continued encouragement and support will be a great help to me. I’ll end by saying that I will meet you all with a brighter image. I’m sorry and thank you.”
— Song Jieun
Jieun is not the first member to leave SECRET. Sunhwa left the group in 2016 to focus on her acting career. She also filed an arbitration against the company but no news has been released on the outcome yet. However, the board ultimately determined to null and void Jieun’s contract.
